Timed
by Soldier Of The Past
Summary: Three years after the series ends everyone seems to be living normal happy lives. But, there are a few that would choose to see otherwise. Kurama ends up racing against time to save his human life. To do so he's going to he's going to need some help. KxB
1. Rusty

Ok... this is my first story **ever** and I have no idea how this is going to go. 0.o Wish me luck!

P.S. I don't own yu yu.

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**Crash**

Lightning struck as Kurama walked home from his night class, and his thoughts once again revolved around the past. It had been three years since the gang was last together. Even though he hadn't seen them in a while, he still enjoyed thinking about them. After all, they were his closest friends, and probably the only ones that would ever truly understand him. They accepted him for who he really was, Yoko Kurama, the legendary thief, and a demon. In truth, he missed their presence, but there was no need for the group to get together again now that the demon world was under the control of, strangely enough,a kind demon. 'That man won by luck. However, after so many years without interference in this world I'm beginning to think we were the lucky ones. It's nice not having to fight to save all humanity everyday. But still, I do grow bored now and then.' He continued his trip home.

Everyone seemed to have moved on; they were settling into a normal human life. It seemed that Shizuru's barking orders all the time had payed off. Kuwabara made it into a great college and was studying to become a veterinarian. 'A few years ago everyone would have laughed at the idea; he didn't exactly have the reputation for being the brightest crayon in the box. I'm quite impressed with what he's done with himself.' He was now completely lost in thought. 'But of course, Kuwabara wouldn't be Kuwabara if he wasn't still chasing after Yukina.' Which meant that Hiei would pop in now and then to make sure things were okay. However, his presence always managed to go unnoticed by the two. 'He's just not a people person.' Kurama laughed to himself at the thought of Hiei being social and friendly. 'I wonder how he'd react to them getting married. What if they had kids?' His laugh began to grow, 'Now there is a thought—Uncle Hiei.'

Yusuke, on the other hand, stayed in his line of work—muscle. He made a great police officer; some how while he was on patrol the bad guys never got away. 'Huh, imagine that.' He was also engaged to Keiko now. She was in the process of becoming a lawyer. Yusuke talked her into that seeing as she was so good at arguing... she always won. He gave a small chuckle. 'Their lives seem to be working out perfectly.'

As for himself, Kurama was now 21 and halfway through college. He was in the process of becoming a botanist. Working with plants was one of his stronger skills. It helped that he didn't mind it either. 'It can be so relaxing at times; the plants never talked back. I can always count on them when I need some time to myself.' Since school started, he had moved out and gotten his own place; that was something new. He was renting a small apartment close to home. After all, he didn't want to upset his mother to much. 'She was emotional enough when I first brought up the topic of leaving home that night at dinner.' She had begun crying a river and almost broke his heart in two. He hated seeing her like that.

**Crack**

Another bolt bought him back from his day dreaming as rain started to fall from the sky.

"Great, it couldn't wait just a few more minutes? I'm almost..." He stopped walking. Someone was following him. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

"It's about time you caught on to me. I've been following you all day, Kurama." The voice was familiar and mocking.

'He's to the left. Up there, in the trees.' He whirled around to face his opponent.

"Are you really that rusty, Kurama?" A boy jumped out from behind him.

His judgment had been wrong; he was originally to the right. 'How? It hasn't been that long since my last battle, has it?' He took a good look at his follower. "You! You're Yomi's son. Shura." He kept a close watch on the boy. 'What's he doing here? It's against demon law for him to interfere in this world. And how did he sneak up on me like that? Obviously he's become quite the fighter these past few years.'

"Come now, aren't you the least bit glad to see me?" Shura's voice was becoming more sarcastic.

"I'm not sure yet. What do you want?"

"Well, you see, I'm here on business."

There was a slight pause before Kurama decided to answer. "How so?"

"Oh, you're going to love this." Shura's face began to hold an evil smile. A long time ago, you took something from my father—his light. It was very important to him. He went through quite the ordeal to learn to cope with it. Do you realize how many lectures I had to listen to about what it's like to depend on something and then have it taken away? Ugh, those stories made me sick; they're so boring. Anyway, in the end, he learned to deal with it; it even made him a stronger ruler. Yet, after all you put him through, he manages to forgive you. Now, I'm afraid that because of those god awful stories, I can't let you squeak by. I won't! It just doesn't seem right that he just lets you off the hook so easily. If I were to mess up just once it would mean endless hours of torturous training. That's why I'm here; to even things up a bit. To take your happiness away from you." Shura's grin became a scowl. His eyes had a longing for death in them.

Still unsure about what to do, Kurama decided not to move. His emotion, as usual, was completely absent. 'At least that part of me isn't rusty. But what now? What is he talking about? My happiness?'

"Well then, no more talking. Let's get this over with, shall we? After all, we both have lives to get back to. Oops, I forgot, you won't. At least, not one that will welcome you as kindly with open arms as it does now." With that, Shura lunged forward and landed a punch smack in the center of Kurama's stomach. He had no time to react; he didn't even see a blur Shura was so fast. His body went flying through the air 20 some feet and slammed into a tree.

A few minutes passed before he could recover. "You've gotten a lot better since we last met." Kurama just barley found it in him to stand up. 'I'm definitely going to have some bruises tomorrow,' he thought as his body ached in response to all his commands.

"Yes, I was training, unlike some people apparently." Shura was annoyed. Shifting his body slightly, he began to summon a massive amount of energy in both hands.

'This doesn't look good. How can I fight this off?' Kurama, though it rarely happened, didn't know what to do.

Shura let go of the energy and sent small discs toward Kurama one after another. He ended up unable to doge one of them due to the previous blow to the abdomen and received a giant gash on his right leg. Blood began to drip down and stain his clothes. He tried taking a step forward but the sharp pain began screaming at him from the pressure of his weight prevented him from doing so. 'Come on... look for an opening. Any opening.'

"Don't worry, as much as I want to kill you I won't. It's like I said before, I want you to suffer. To learn the lesson my father has been bitching about my whole life. I'm going to take something equally valuable away from you." Shura reached into his pockets and pulled out what looked like a small sphere with one hand and a piece of fruit with the other. "The gas in this container is something rare. Kind of like the gas that first let you revert back to Yoko, only, this toxin does the exact opposite. Instead of releasing your powers, it stores them deep inside, binding them so they cannot be accessed. You will become the weakest your body has ever known. Quite interesting, isn't it? However, there is a cure. This fruit, the hyoi pear, seems to work as an antigen to these fumes if eaten within a certain amount of days. I've never experimented with it so I'm not sure how long you can go without it. Anyway, there were only two hyoi pear trees that ever existed in all of Makai. One was said to be in the deadly heat of Makai's greatest deserts; I destroyed it after taking this delicious sample. I'm sorry to say the other's location was lost. Not even I could find it. In fact, I don't believe it's alive any longer. They thrive in such harsh climates, extreme hots and colds. I guess there is a chance that it's still out there, whereabouts unknown to us, but that is very unlikely." Shura tossed the sphere and it shattered. Kurama's only choice was to hold his breath; the gas was spreading too quickly for him to get away in his condition.

'I can't hold my breath forever. This is not good.' As his lungs gave in and he inhaled the poison his body instantly began to change. He could feel his stomach crawling up his throat. 'I think I'm going to be sick.' The ground began to spin underneath him; his vision was leaving him. The last thing he saw was Shura ingesting the pear until nothing was left. He was out cold.

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End of chapter one. Any good? Please review!


	2. Guess Who

Hey, so here's the second chapter

Hey, so here's the second chapter... sorry for those of you who are a bit confuzzled. I can't seem to find a title that i like, but this one will stay.

It just makes so much more sense in the ling run. Anyway, please read and review.Reviews are always welcome!

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Everything seemed hazy; at the moment his mind was a blank. Kurama was reluctant to open his eyes and scope out his surroundings. 'Ugh, I feel awful. Why?'

He tried getting up. "Ah!"

'Okay, maybe that's not the best idea... My leg.' He looked down to check out the problem.

"What, I'm a fox! I'm the other form of Yoko." At that point all his memories from that night came flooding back.

'This is not good. Is he still around?' He scanned the are. 'Doesn't look like it. He said something about changing into my weakest form. Of course, when I was shot I was so weak I had to run and hide here in the human world. Then that means I'm stuck like this... this is definitely not good!'

Kurama tried using his healing abilities to fix his leg but failed. Shura was right again; all his powers were locked away so he couldn't use them. He resorted to licking it a few times and then finally ignoring it. He would just have to limp. 'Ignore it, yeah right. It hurts like hell and I'm not even using it! But I have to figure out something. I can't go home. Even if Mother did know who I was she'd never let me in, would she? I'm a monster; she'd be repulsed. I just can't risk it.' With shelter as his main goal in mind he continued to hobble back towards the street he was thrown from.

It had gotten quite late, so there were very few people around to witness the awkwardness of a fox limping on a public sidewalk. 'How convenient.' He paused; something caught his eye. It was a thin figure that seemed oddly familiar. He looked a bit closer. 'It is! I haven't seen that face in a long time. Ah, and it's never looked so good!' He began to pick up the pace, moving as fast as his three legs would take him. He had to catch up; this was his only hope!

"Botan it's me, Kurama! I need your help. I've been tuned into a fox and..."

Turning around fast enough to cause whiplash she cut him off. "Oh! You startled me. Were you following me home? You're so cute." Her voice was high and bubbly.

'What? She must not be able to understand me.' He caught the girl steeling a glance form the direction she was originally headed. 'I have to think of something, and fast, she's going to leave. But be cautious Kurama, most wild animals are vicious. You don't want to startle her.' He inched forward.

"Oh dear! You're hurt. Poor thing, it looks like it will get infected if we don't take care of it. Will you come home with me? We really should get that cleaned up."

'Yes! Oh please take me home with you!' He whined a bit to show some trust, stepping forward to lick her fingers.

"I take that as a yes... I think. Just promise you won't bite."

Kurama tried to speak. "I would never!" But what should have been words came out as yelping to Botan.

She hesitated at his speech. "Oh... I hope that was an 'I promise.'"

'Right, she can't understand me. I'll have to learn to hold my tongue. That was too close.' He rubbed his head against her small hand to regain any trust he might have lost.

With that she scoped him up into her arms and began down the street once more. "I'm so glad you're cooperating like this. I'll have you fixed up in no time!" Reaching the main part of town near her apartment complex she noticed that there were a few more people around. They were all staring like she had dyed her hair some silly color. (And blue is normal?) "I guess a girl carrying home a fox is a bit strange, isn't it." She whispered just load enough for her fuzzy companion to hear.

They had reached the stairs to her apartment. "Just one more floor." Her legs were getting sore. "You know, you're not very light. May I ask what you've been eating lately?... Oh, well. Guess it can't be helped."

She slowly set him down to unlock the door. "Don't run off now." She held it open so he could come in. "I know it's not exactly beautiful but it's something right?"

He limped a few feet into the living room and sat down. "I'm going to go and get some warm water to clean that with. I'll be right back, okay." He just stared at her as she ran through yet another door which looked like it lead to the kitchen.

'I don't know what she's talking about; this place isn't that bad. Actually, I find it quite nice here.' The room was nothing fancy. Very simple; very plain. But for some reason or another Kurama liked it.

'Now, how do I tell her who I am. There has to be something...' And with that Botan was back in the room; a bowl and towel in her hands.

"Okay, this might sting a bit so hold still." She kneeled down, dipped the rag into the water, and began to wash his wound.

"Wow, you handled that really well. That was amazing. I can't wait to tell Yusuke that a fox did better then he did. He never holds still and always complains. Hmhm."

Botan put the bowl aside. "Now, this will be really cool okay. Just watch!" She placed her hand next to his leg and sparks began to appear. Slowly but surely his wound healed.

'It's gone! I forgot she could do that; it's just been too long.' He stood up on all fours. 'That feels great.'

"All better." She smiled. "Well now what do you want to do. You can stay here for the night if you want."

'Alright, time to figure something out!' He scanned the room and saw a small vase of flowers sitting on an end table. 'Perfect! A flower.' He hopped up on the sofa and picked up the plant in his mouth bringing it back to the girl.

She blinked, dumbfounded. "Oh! I see."

'Yes! It's me!'

"You want to say thank you for my healing your leg. How cute!"

'No.' He dropped it on the ground. 'Okay, something else.. Ah! There.' He got on the sofa again this time coming back with a pencil.

"Um..."

'Blast!' There was two problems with his idea: one, no paper; two, no hands.

"Oh, okay. Your hungry. I'll go see if I have anything for you to eat." She got back up and once again disappeared into the kitchen.

'I'm getting nowhere with this. It's hopeless.'

Almost tripping on her way out, Botan returned with a plate of raw hamburger and set it in front of Kurama. "Sorry, I don't usually keep spare fox food on hand. Though, I suppose I will after tonight." She laughed.

"No, no, no!" Kurama was being reckless again, but he didn't care. 'She isn't getting it and I'm going to be stuck like this forever.'

"I'm sorry. Is it that bad?" She looked like she was about to cry.

Then he saw something sparkle on the other side of the room. 'Maybe... Well, it's my last shot.' Once again Kurama left Botan's side and went to fetch another object. This time retuning with a necklace that held a small sapphire. He placed the sparkling jewel in Botan's lap.

"Ah, I see you found my only piece of jewelry. It has a lot of meaning behind it you know... You're probably going to think I'm crazy, but you remind me of an old friend. Aw, well, enough thinking of the past. It's a little sad to sometimes." She got up and transferred herself to the sofa.

Kurama gave up. It wasn't going to happen; she wasn't going to get it. He found a spot to curl up on the floor, laid his head down, and just stared across the room.

Botan noticed the difference in him; she could see the depression in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

He just lay there, still sulking.

"Hold on, I have an idea!" For the third time Botan left the room, only this time it was through a different door. When she came back she held a thin silver hoop in both hands. She bent down and slid it around his neck. "There now, this is one of my spirit detective items. I don't think I've ever used it before; it's supposed to let me hear your thoughts that way I can understand you. Go ahead, give it a shot! What's got you so down in the dumps?"

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End of chapter two! Please, if you liked any bit of it review and say "I liked it!" And, if you have any advice, go ahead and critique away! I'd love some input!


	3. Think About It

Sorry this one is so much shorter and took me so long to write. I'll try to do better for the next chapter.

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'You mean it was that easy? All I had to do was put on a necklace?' Kurama thought ironically, very loudly. With that he met Botan's eyes.

"Ehh?" Botan was really confused.

'It's me, Kurama! I've been trying to tell you for the past hour that I've been turned into a fox. I'm stuck in Yoko's spirit form and I can't change back."

She blinked a few times, unsure if she had just heard right. "Well that was unexpected!"

'You have no idea. Today has just been one surprise after another.'

For the next twenty minutes Kurama retold his evening's events, careful not to overlook any detail.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry. It _does_ all makes sense now; the flower and the necklace did remind me of you! But, I just never would have guessed. It's all so random."

He could tell by her body language that she was starting to feel really guilty. 'It's okay; don't lose any sleep over it. After all, I was asking a lot from you. I don't think even I would have picked up on it if our roles were reversed. In fact, I don't think I would have cared enough to take you home. Not knowing it was you, of course! I got lucky... Thank you by the way, for healing me. I _am_ really grateful.'

"Oh, no problem! I only wish I had known about you sooner. I would have tried to do more."

'More? Unless you can change me back, I don't think you left anything else. I feel great now that my leg is fixed, and the food was very generous of you. Though, I'm not that hungry. Anyway, Spirit World doesn't by any chance have a spare hyoi pear lying around, now does it?'

She had to think about that one. "I don't remember anything like that in our inventory... But, they might have something on file. Maybe we can find out a few important details about this tree and in return, learn its location."

'I don't think so. The other tree has been hidden for years according to Shura. It's doubtful it even exists any longer. I've lived in Makai for hundreds of years and I've never heard of this fruit before. Most likely I'm stuck in this condition for-good.'

"Why are you shooting down all of your options already? You can't give up until you've tried." Botan stood up becoming very serious. "Come on." She headed for her jacket and opened the door.

'Where are you going?'

"To the Spirit world library! Now, are you coming or not? Last time I checked you were on a time crunch, so that means we shouldn't waste it moping about. Who knows when this will become permanent? You're giving up just because life has become a little unfair. What's up with you? The Kurama I know would already be on to some other sort of cure for this."

'You're right, I'm not myself.' He closed his eyes.

Botan had finally broken through his barrier; now she just needed to find the answer. "So you admit there is something wrong. You should let it out. It's not good to keep things pent up inside that way." She walked back over to him.

He sighed and gave in realizing that telling her might actually help. 'Ever since the team retired, if that's the word you'd choose for it, I've felt different. I have friends here, but none are like all of you. I had the comfort of not having to lie with the group. Things just feel odd now without them. It seems everyone's moved on without me; they all have new lives and I don't. The Suichi in me wants what all of you have, closure and happiness. But, it's like Yoko is forbidding it. I'm stuck watching the future from the past. I guess this emptiness has caused me to lose some of my drive.'

"That's it?" Botan asked casually.

'What?'

"You're just lonely?" She was still shocked at how simple it was. "Well if that's the problem you can just pop in for a visit now and then. Apparently I don't live too far away. I know I'm not Yusuke or Kuwabara, but I have to count for something." There was a pause and the two just looked at each other. Kurama was unsure of how to respond to her offer.

After a few minutes he finally answered, 'All right, I suppose you are right. Perhaps that would help a bit.'

She knelt down and scoped him up into her arms. "Well, now that that confession is out and in the open we should probably get going. I'll give you a ride to spirit world on my oar if that's a problem."

'That would probably be best. I'm not to sure I can get there on my own anymore with my powers being locked up the way they are.'

"All right then, we'll just head up to the roof for a discreet take off and we'll be there in no time." Botan left the room taking Kurama with her and headed up the stairs to reach the top of the building. "We'll get this figured out, I know it!"

'Yes, we will.'

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Chapter three is done... hope it was ok! please review!


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